Jettisoned Ponderings

If you want to follow it, here’s the forum link: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113684501

So far I’ve had some pretty impressive results and unbelievable results with the full strength libido boost dose! Still got 3 weeks of workouts to log it for.

Last time I took full stats was Dec 6th. The holidays were not nice to me so a lot of this year has been focused on getting back to where I was. Part of it was the thrown off hormones, but I did hit my heaviest weight to date at 206, mostly water retention, and was around 15% bodyfat. So, here are stats from this morning:

Weight: 199.5 (+4lbs)
Bodyfat 13.6% (-0.5%)
Chest: 43" (No change)
Arms: 14.8" (+0.3")
Hips: 39.3" (-0.3")
Waist: 33.8" (-0.3")
Thighs: 25.5" (+0.5")
Calves: 15.8" (+0.3")
Forearms: 12.3" (-0.3")
Shoulders: 52.3" (+0.3")
Neck: 17" (+0.5")

Really happy about the thighs and arms since those are what I’m hitting hardest right now to try and bring them up. Lovin’ the workout program!

When I was doing rack pulls on Wednesday, for the first time my straps were slipping on the bar (granted it was 515lbs and the gnarl on the bar is bit worn down). I thought about getting some no-slip straps with rubber, but instead have decided to give hooks a try first. The main reason is that with the straps being used for that much weight and since I have small joints it really constricts and puts a lot of pressure on the wrists when the strap gets tighter under load. I’ll still use my straps for a number of other exercises, but for deads, shrugs, racks, etc. the hooks will have a chance to prove themselves. For now I went with the Valeo hooks. All the other ones had something about them that I didn’t like, whether price, material, etc.

Power squats this morning instead of barbell hacks. Didn’t make it to the grocery yesterday, so I wasn’t lifting with the usual full breakfast. Second working set got 5 good reps at 315 down to parallel. Last set I tried 405 for a 1 rep max (which I’ve done before), but it was a no go. Held it at the bottom for a second, but had to let the cage catch it. Given the projected max from the second set (I prefer using the math half way down on this page for squat, bench, and deadlift instead of a generalized calculation) it puts my max at 378. So my max lift is down roughly 30lbs. Shouldn’t take too long to get back to where I was before. It’ll feel good to be able to do 8 plates for reps.

Recently both myself and GJ were selected to alpha test a new product coming from Anabolic Xtreme. For now, the product is being code named "AXplosion". We got our NDAs sent in and the ingredient list today to make sure we were ok with everything in it. We’ll get the full testing and dosing guidelines most likely sometime next week when it arrives. Some of the parameters are going to be fairly strict with respect to what can and cannot be consumed within a certain time window, amount of time taken pre-workout, etc. Its still exciting though. Once we were notified we’d been chosen, all the pre-workout supps were ceased to get it out of our systems and have as clean of a slate as possible to make sure the product itself is working as intended and get the most accurate feedback possible.

I can’t say a whole lot more than that, but from what I know and have read on what’s in it I’m fairly excited to see how it performs. Keep an eye out for the link to my log if you’re curious to follow it and see the results.

First, I ran out of glutamine this morning. Baah. Time to make another order for the basics.

Training wise aside from missing one leg workout GJ and I have survived my latest creation and is has been the biggest shock to my body in many months. The transition back to heavy lifts has been a welcome one. Interestingly, I’ve gone down in weight a bit and am seeing more definition in my core. I believe its from all the compound work having to keep my core and back tight during the motions, and amen for that weight belt. I’m still frustrated with my chest work and its a severely lagging area that seems to favor responding only to isolation or machine work. The exercises may need to change depending on what happens or doesn’t happen in the next few weeks there.

My only real setback has been my new work schedule. I’m waiting tables at my favorite sushi bar and this does not allot me the usual late afternoon meal breaks when things get busy. I do have the option to grab some quick rice and soup when I can, so I’m not totally running on fumes, but at times I don’t even have a moment to do that. There is enough time to keep pushing water and stay hydrated at least though. In the end, I’m having to do what is usually a bad idea and that’s taking in a higher amount of calories and carbs late in the day or before bedtime. I can cheat that for now, but if I were much older I know it wouldn’t fly.

Next week a few exercises are changed to keep things mixed up but the split, total reps and sets are all the same. GJ is also going to have some additional unilateral work to correct a significant imbalance in the sizes of her lats. Doubtful it will make a huge difference before her show, but any help will be beneficial.

Tomorrow is a day of rest and it is definitely needed!

Pulled off 3 reps at 475 today for Deadlifts! I’m very much loving the results I’m getting from this workout program. Finally after 2 years of experimenting I am having the success with the designs with minimal revisions.

One change, or addition rather, is alternating the heavy compound lifts week to week. So with an A/B rotation for their respective days they’ll be:

A: Barbell Hack Squats / B: Barbell Back Squats
A: Standard Deadlifts / B: Rack Pulls
A: Sumo Deadlifts / B: Stiff Leg Deadlifts
A: Wide Grip Bench Press / B: Hammer Iso-Wide Chest Press

Other than that, the workout is the same. Once GJ is back in school the lifting days will change to Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat, which actually provides a better recovery schedule.

I’m excited as I firmly believe this plan is going to get me to the goals I have for this quarter to improve my strength for Deads, Hacks, and Bench all by 15%. Bench is gonna be the difficult one, but I still should be able to pull it off.

I’m going back to the basics; heavy compound movements. After a couple weeks trying different lifts and splits I’ve finalized what I’ll be working on for the next couple months. I’m already liking the results. There are also videos posted in my profile if you want to check those out.

Mon: Quads/Calves    Sets/Reps
Barbell Hack Squats    3×3-6
Smith Front Squats    3×8
Century Drop Set: Leg Extensions    1×100
Super Set: Standing Calves    2×15-30
Super Set: Seated Calves    2×15-30

Tue: Back/Triceps/Delts    Sets/Reps
Barbell Deadlifts    3×3-6
Dead Hang Lat Pulldowns    3×8
Century Drop Set: Machine Rows    1×100
Pec Deck Rear Delt Fly    3×12-15
Reverse Tricep Smith Power Press    3×5-7
Eccentric 1 Arm Prone Tricep Pushdown    3×6
Century Drop Set: Rope Pushdowns    1×100

Weds: Off

Thur: Hams/Calves    Sets/Reps
Sumo Deadlifts    3×3-6
Seated Single Leg Curl    3×8
Century Drop Set: Prone Leg Curl    1×100
Super Set: Standing Calves    2×15-30
Super Set: Seated Calves    2×15-30

Fri: Chest/Biceps/Delts    Sets/Reps
Wide Grip Bench Press    3×3-6
Hammer Incline Power Press    3×8
Century Drop Set: Vertical Chest Press    1×100
EZ Bar Power Curls    3×3-6
Alt 1 Arm Eccentric Machine Curls    3×6
Century Drop: Cable Rope Hammer Curls    1×100
Smith Front Power Presses    3×3-6

Sat/Sun: Off

Somewhere this idea started spreading that estrogen is just a bad thing for guys. Let me reassure you, this is far from the case. Too much estrogen is bad, sure, but after having to be on a very potent AI (With what I’m on, I’m talking over 98% estrogen elimination) today I started to feel the effects with my knees hurting. Mind you, until today I had not lifted since Sunday so it was not a result of a hard lift. The fact is we need some estrogen to maintain the structural integrity of our joints, bones, and connective tissue. Certainly there are appropriate times to use an AI, but ideally only for shorter terms to prevent some of the sides. Consider what happens to women post menopause when their estrogen levels significantly decline. The same things can happen to men. I’m looking forward to beginning to come off the AI and getting my system back to normal.

Most of the Tribulus products out there aren’t effective for a few reasons. First, some aren’t extracts so you’re not really getting the best part. Another factor is what region the plant grew in since the soil affects the profile of saponins in it. Anyhow… Assuming you get one of the ones that is actually a good standardization of the extract it should properly help to increase LH and therefore test levels. Whether that’s a lower dose at a higher standardization or a higher dose at a lower standardization, in the end if you’re getting enough of the steroidal saponins it’ll do the job. Now, the typical thought of course is "Oh, its natural so there won’t be any problems!" Well, folks, I can tell you that is not the case. For the past month I’ve been taking 3g of bulgarian tribulus extract a day (45% standardization) to offset a low drive. After about 3 weeks into it one morning I noticed that the mammary gland tissue (Yes, guys, we have them, too) was noticeably firmer than usual. Initially I thought that prolactin levels were elevated and offsetting it with some ibuprofen to reduce levels. This seemed to help for that week. Then we left for Vegas and when I packed my pill case I neglected to put the ibuprofen in it. A couple days later the symptoms were back and a bit worse. It was clear the problems were persisting and not going away. I stopped taking all my supps except for my basics trying to think what was throwing my hormones for such a loop. My drive had been back up so I know my test levels had been increasing. The next morning I woke up and remembered a study I’d read and realized what had been happening. For the record I was not using Tribestan, but NOW Tribulus 1000, which is another Bulgarian tribulus extract:

"The original purpose for tribulus terrestris extract was as a         "tonic" to treat sexual dysfunction. In animal husbandry         studies tribulus extract was shown to stimulate rutting behavior (i.e.         attempting to score) in rams as well as boars. When the supplement         Tribestan® was given to healthy men (Milanov, 1981) in a dose of 750         milligrams per day for five days, LH and testosterone were elevated 72%         and 40% respectively. As you might expect, estradiol was also elevated.         In fact estradiol was elevated by 81%! The increase in testosterone is         obviously what all the fuss is about, nevertheless, you can’t ignore         the fact that whenever you increase testosterone you are going to         increase aromatization and therefore estrogen levels. To put these         changes in hormone levels into perspective, the reference range for         testosterone in men is between 300 - 1,000 ng/dL. The subjects in this         study started out with an average of 600 ng/dL and ended up with about         850 ng/dL. This is still well within the "normal" range for         men. Estradiol on the other hand went from normal levels of about 76         pg/ml to significantly elevated levels of 137.5 pg/ml. This is well         above normal levels which range from about 20-80 pg/ml in men."

I’m certain this was my problem now. I had neglected to add in some sort of estrogen/atomatise inhibitor in the stack to offset the increase in estradiol. Since stopping the tribulus and am now using an aggressive anti-estrogen the symptoms have been significantly reduced the last few days. The bottom line for anyone who’s considering using tribulus is to remember that it is very much an effective herbal supplement to use both by itself or with other synergistic herbs. However, it is important to remember to have some sort of estrogen management such as DIM, Calclum d-glucarate, indole-3 carbinol, etc. Another option is an atomatise inhibitor, such as ATD (my preferred choice for OTC). Do not go overboard with these, however, because the body does need some estrogen to maintain things like bone and joint integrity. Everyone responds differently, so it is important to listen to your body. I’ll absolutely use the tribulus again in the future, but I’ll be sure to add in the ATD next run (SNS Inhibit-e has always worked well for me)